Dry weather leads to more - and more serious - wasp and bee stings

Editor's note: This is embargoed to Sunday, August 26. Two info boxes at bottom.

BROCKTON - A walk in the park, a picnic in the garden or a round of golf can be a stinging experience these days.

By Elaine Allegrini

Editor's note: This is embargoed to Sunday, August 26. Two info boxes at bottom.

A walk in the park, a picnic in the garden or a round of golf can be a stinging experience these days.

There has been a surge in yellow jackets and wasps because a lack of rain has kept their below-ground nests from being flooded out - which typically controls their population. If a walker disturbs a nest, that could set off an attack.

"The (insects) are very angry," said Laurie Campbell, patient care director at Brockton's Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center emergency department, where upwards of 10 patients a week are seeking treatment for yellow jacket or wasp stings. That's a three-fold increase in recent weeks, she said.

Yellow jackets are typically more active in late summer and early fall when their populations peak and they get more frantic for food when the caterpillars and flies they feed on earlier in the growing season are gone.

This year, there are even more yellow jackets and they are more active, according to Deborah Swanson, Plymouth County Extension horticulturist.

"It's a very bad year," she said. "I have stopped weeding and planting; I'm very cautious."

It's so bad that the UMass Extension made note of the proliferation in a recent publication.

"The dry conditions in eastern Massachusetts have resulted in large numbers of hymenoptera, such as yellow jackets," the statewide report said. "Many of these nest in soil. Without rain to occasionally flood them out, their numbers can build dramatically by this time of the year. Some nests may have 1,000-2,000 individual wasps right now."

Wasps are recognized by the black and yellow bands on their abdomen. Wasp workers may be confused with honey bees, but do not have dense, brownish-tan hair on their bodies.

Yellow jackets have a lance-like stinger and can sting repeatedly; honey bees only sting once. Yellow jackets are attracted to food, especially fruits or sweetened beverages. Along the way, they find humans as one man found out when he was stung while teeing off recently at the Halifax Country Club.

Hornets or wasps are very aggressive and territorial.

"Their stings are very, very painful," Swanson said. "I'm telling people to be very, very cautious when outdoors."

They are also life-threatening for some.

Jordan Hospital in Plymouth has also seen an increase in stings, "and patients are having more serious reactions," spokesman John Looney said.

People with known allergies to stings typically carry medication in an injection device called an EpiPen that provides immediate protection if they are stung.

Those without known allergies should seek medical attention if they have any shortness of breath, hoarseness or tickling in the throat after being stung, said Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center's Campbell.

Anyone who is stung should also make sure the stinger is removed (sometimes tweezers are needed) and apply ice both for swelling and to numb the site, she said.
"If you don't have an allergy, watch it," Campbell said. "If it gets worse, seek medical care."

And, be comforted to know that the parent colony rapidly dwindles in the fall and the queen and workers die when the temperature drops. Above-ground nests will persist in dry areas, but they are rarely used again in the spring, experts say.

Elaine Allegrini of The Enterprise (Brockton, Mass.) can be reached at eallegrini@enterprisenews.com.

If you have a known allergy, use Epi-Pen, then seek immediate medical attention.
Even if there is no known allergy, seek immediate medical attention if you experience shortness of breath, hoarseness, throat tightening or itching.
Remove the stinger.
Apply ice to reduce swelling, numb area of sting.
Sources: Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, www.organicgardening.com

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